Grading, harvesting, and recovering salt.



A. SCHILLiNG.

GRADING, HARVESTING, AND RECOVERING SALT. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13` 1912.

1,160,533. Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

23h42@ Arm/mfr coLummA PLANoaRM-H co.. WASHINGTON. lA c.

A. SCHILLING.

GRADING, HARVESTING, AND REcovERlNG SALT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 13.1912.

W/T/VESSES:

CULUMBM FLANuuRAPM co., WASHINGTON. D. l:A

@Nar ,i

itabue, riaivnsiid, ANKECOVERNG Shir.

metisse.

Applicatibn ala' ne'cmb 1s,` 1912. l serial no. 736,537;

To all 'whom #may concern.' Y

Be' it known that. I, Auster Schiuma, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, `in/ .the county' of Jdlalneda. vand State of California, have inventedcertain new and usefulniproveinents in Grading, Harvesting, and 4Recovering Salt, of'vvhic'h the following is speciiication. y j

The hereinafter described invention relates to an improved apparatus for the treat-V ing of salt Within ai salt pond or ponds for the mechanical grading, harvesting, and recovering the salt ther'efr-ond'.` By the er?V pression grading is meant preparing the salt within the salt pond or ponds for deterinin# ing the site of the Crystals` to berecovered therefrom, While by the expression harvesting's meant the removalot the salt crystals from Within the pond. t

The object of the present invention is to permit salt ponds'y of large acreage to be utilized for the'xvdeposit of tliesaltrystals and the recovery 'of the' salt therefrom, to control or regulate the si'Ze4 or iirness of the salt Within dilierent' ponds;y ,and to re# cover the salt from the pond or ponds by mechanical autoniatially d`1`9`e'rated ineans in lieu of the manually operated means at pres-y ent employed for the recovery of 'the 'salt and by dispensing yi'vithwthe narniallyv operated means; avoiding the sloiv, uncertain and expensive Woi'k at' present required for this purpose. j I l Ordinarily the 'saltyponds" gare ofysiiiall area and werkuren, with sh'oyels are, em# ployed flor renhio'ving and elevating the salt or salt crystals from the bottoni' ofthe salt Y ponds, uref-Sait sa displaced teiagtheoaa into a i'vheel barrow until l'oad is secured; Which is then Wheeled to the shore'and dis'-v chai-ged ara suitable piace of deposit., This is not only a, slow; tedious andexpesiv method of collecting andfreino'ying the salt, but the' saine `does` not insureV i unifo'rin re# metal offthevsalt "orsalt/"crys'tals troni the salt pondi and Atherefore isr not pifoductiye of the best results and eoonomiotyorking of the material. f A i A f ,y 't f From the salt Water forI brineadrnitted into the pond oraponds forhtherefoyryof salt, the'. salt rcrystals Will` forni", land' gather at thexbottoin of thewfpoiid and-grow or gradually increase in sizerby the? deposit ojiother ycrystals thereon.'vI it these growing crystals-are broizeaap with-ia the pensier upper" and frequent intervals during the salt making season, crystalsy of small size result, While the less they' are disturbed the larger Will be the size of the crystals, it Will therefore be Aobserved that in various ponds the size kof the Crystals inay, by theuse of thehereinafter described invention, be' regulated in accordance with the Wish of the manufacturer of the Commercial salt.

To eoniprehendy the invention reference should be had to the aceoinp'anyingsheets of dlrz'twings, wherein-l g y VFigure l is a side elevation of the iniproved apparatus, disclosing the relative position or" ythe associated instruinentalitie's. Fig; 2 `is a front elevation of the apparai tus illustrating the cutting 'or breaking' devices for the `salt crystals, and the discharge -apronand convey'er for receivingthe broken or out saltor salt erystals',,the1 elevator for receiving the salt j from the cutting and breaking Vdevice and elevating and deliver! ing the saine ont-"o the discharge eonveyer being removed. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus illustrating the position of the variousyvorking parts' and4 the Inechanisrn for imparting motion thereto".L j l in' the drauf'ings; the numeral l isused to designate any suitable form of a supporting structure capable of sustaining the Working mechanism and haying suic'ient buoyancy to dranT but slight yWater when placed Within the salt pond, Y (say, approxiinately twelve inehesrthe buoyant structure being approXirnately tiyelve by eighteen feetyover all, and preferably constructed of Wood;

At the'l oryyardendof the buo Y) nl ant struetu're is arranged, in thefpreseiit ease, a pair of alinedfcu'tting rollersf;l which rollers are rnounted'in the swinging or adjustable beaL ing brackets 3, 'order tdV provide for verti# cal adjustnentto regulate the depth of sub` ine'rgence yfor the saidA rollers; While any suitable form ot'cutthg deyces may be einployed,` preference is' given to the Cylinder rollers 2 provided With a" 'series'of circuiti-A iere'ntia'lly disposed and outtvardly projectilng `'cuftting blades or instrinentalities. Als stated, `the rollers' 2 arenoanted ferrata;

,tirana thee-eating `tralasts e', whih track;

ets are hinged orV 'p'w'fbted to 'the loafer" end sin,

ioo

porties of the' side beansscared to the f supporting Vstruct Wheels spande/ are i, over sprocket pantedfiu b A, attua iswefli-adset,asiatinnen tabley rotary "cutter, and the said received saltv is 5 work the endlessvcarrierchains?, which are connected by the'cross pieces,blades or plates 8. The lower end ofthe inclined table terminates rimmediately back'of the r'o-v tary cutters 2 and receives thereon the salt or salt crystals thrown rearwardly from-the carried up ,the inclined table 5 bythe projecting blades or plates l8 which rest, on and move upwardly over the surface of the saidV `inclined tablevand serve as drags for elevating such material to carry the same over the `upper end'of the 4said table for-.discharge onto thetransverse'ly disposed,runway9l 1 The swinging bearing brackets 3 are held i in adjusted positionby means of the lock ed by Vthe slats,` blades or cross-pieces 17,

clamp bolts or studslO, which Work through the slottedy` portion 11 of the projecting arm 12 ofsaid brackets and screw into orirather aregattached to the'forward end portion'of the supporting structurel. Rotation is imparted to the excavating rollers?, 'mounted in said ybearing brackets by means of the drive chainsfl which :work over the-sprocket wheels 1i on the shaft 187 andthesprocketwheels 6y and similar. wheels 15 the axle 15 for the rollers 2. `The transverselyfdisposed runway 9 is located below-the upper end of theinclined securedlto table 5V and receives the' salt discharged" therefrom,` which salt is removed by means f ofV an endless carrier whichrcons'ists ofl the endless sprocket 'chains 16 working over sprocket wheels16at each endvof the said runway. TheseV sprocket chains are connectwhich Vserve as dragsrfor the removal ofthe material during the endless travel ofthe chains 16.V Y i. Y* The drags Sand 17,not only serve for rais-v ing the salt crystals .or material up the in-V 'clined table 5 and propellingthe same along the runway 9 respectively7 but answer to break up anyofthelargesize crystals which mav be delivered bythe rotary cutters;V Y

The shaft 62atthe upperend of 'theline clined tabley for the sprockets 6 isdriven from a drive shaft 18V by means of a sprocket chain 18 working over the sprocket wheels 19 andv 19 kmounted on the shaft-62 and 18 respectively. and: the .carrier chains 16 for the drags 17V' are driven froma shaft 20-by` means of `a sprocket chain 20" working over f the sprocket w-heelsQ1and 22 mounted respectively on 'said shaft,v and onevof'the aXles 22 for thegsprocket'wheels 16', thesa'id power- -shaft 2O atitsouter endvcarrying a fr bevel gear 282m meshed enfzagement with which ,the beveligears 24and524t carried by thespoolfyslidably .mountedonl the drive Y shaft 18 arethrownvfor transmitting rotation theretofrom-tlie said drive shaft. the

v direction'(1f-,rotation transmitted to the shaftV [2O *and frQmtheISame'tothecarrier 'chains A a ,ldpelfllllgfqrl ,Which-:Qi thebevelspinns or gears 24 `and=21t kare throwninto meshy with the pinion or gear 23 of the power Shaft 20. Y

" Motionis imparted `tothe drive shaft 18 from a motor 26 bymeans of a belt 26 workingover a belt pulley 27 on the motor shaft Y 27 a belt pulley 28'ona shaftv28 carrying a worm 29 in mesh -witha wormV gear 29 on the router end of the drive shaft 18.

The ends of the runway 9 project beyond the sides of the supportingstructure a distance vsufficient Vfor Ya Vsmall barge orv other buoyant structure tobe run alongside the supporting structure 1 toreceive` the salt discharged from the runway 9.Y z-is'soon as one "such yreceiving bargeis' loaded, the direction of travel of the endless carrier chains 16k is reversed so as to discharge materialVV A moved back and forth overthevsurface of i Y the salt pond 1n any su1tablemanner, and as moved and submergedjexcavating rollers or devices carriedgthereby cut the crystals of salt deposited within the pond and lthrow the same Vonto lthe inclinedv table 5 over which the sameV are upwardly propelled by i thedrag plates 8 and discharged over theupper endof the said table into the runway 9, fromy which thesame are discharged `by the endless drag v'working -thereininto or onto vany suitable form `of a receiver Ysitu-v ated atY one orbothsides Vof the supporting structure for thisjpurpose Y In Vthe operation Ofgrading the salt crystals within thesaltpondor ponds the apparatus is' moved thereover with the drive Amechanismfor the elevatingdevices disconnected, with the resultthatthe cutters or breaking- UP devices mit Onftheffcrmed mounds of salt,l crystalsfin orderl to break Vup the same,'

ment, thereof level. the #loosened salt'.Y As

4statedthe Vfineness for Size of thesalt crystals is controlled orV regulated by the number of times the apparatus is passed over. the deposited salt bedgwithin .thepondy orponds for breaking up the formed crystals. 'Durwhile thejscrapers 3Q Vprojecting' below the buoyant structure `duringthe travelingmove`` ing the harvesting operationY of Athe salt'gthe'.'

' elevating devicesfor mechanism is placed into operatiomthe same removing and elevating vthe salt crystals 1n` theV manner before described,

By the use of' the described apparatussalt .pondsf of exceedingly;largec'area mayk b e employed,th ereby ymaterially reducing the ,money investment or working capital` l' @quired `C'II heg/maintenance 'cfg-a* large number of ponds of small area, and also avoiding the heavy4 expense incident to the recovery of the salt by manually operated devices.

As the salt crystals are removed from a body of brine solution substantially full to saturation, the crystals are thoroughly washed and freed of all dirt and foreign substance as elevated through such a body of brine solution, which, while 'not dissolving the salt crystals, removes therefrom or takes out any of the baser magnesium salts which are present in the salt as ordinarily removed by shovels or similar devices in an unbroken body.

The described apparatus not only breaks up the salt crystals by a harrowing operation, but permits of the harvesting ofthe salt andr at the same time accomplishing the washing thereof forthe removal of the baser magnesium saltfcontained therein.

The apparatus will be found of the uts most importance where the salt is to beV handled on a large scale, inasmuch as it permits not only economic working thereof, but the etlicient treatment thereof in a manner never before carried out.

l am aware that changes may be made kin the details of construction of the various working parts of the described apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be understood as confining or limiting myself to the details shown and described. aware that the ydistance of the buoyant structure from the bottom of the pond may be increased or decreased by admitting additional water into the pond or withdrawing water therefrom, or by pumping water into and out of the said structure.

Having thus described the invention what I am yalso yis claimed as new and desired to protect/by esy ried by said frame and positioned for operation upon the salt below said frame, means. for actuating the grader and means associated with said frame and adjacent the grader for leveling salt below the bouyant frame after the same has been acted upon by the grader.

2. In a salt grading apparatus, the combination with a buoyant frame, of a rotary grader carried by said frame, means for maintaining the grader in a position to operate upon salt below said buoyant frame, means for actuating the grader, and means comprising a series of space leveling blades depending fromthe frame vfor leveling the salt belowTr said frame after the salt has been loosened by the grader.V A

3. In the salt grading and recovering apparatus the combination with a buoyant frame comprising spaced side bars and a connecting base portion, of a rotary grader carried by the side bars, said grader' journaled in substantially the same plane as the base of the frame, a traveling conveyer having a receiving end portion adgacent the rotary grader to receive salt loosened by the rotary grader, and means associated with the frame for leveling the salt below said buoyant frame immediately after the same has been actuated on by the grader.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses. f

AUGUST SCHILLING. l/Vitnesses:

D. Gr.Y VOLKMANN, PAUL Lnssow.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. C. 

